There's Something Going Around In Carbon Bus System A Big Help To Residents

November 29, 1985|by ROBERT FLEXER, The Morning Call

Since its beginning in 1979, the Carbon County Transit System has made life much easier for many people. Sanford Jarinko would be the first to attest to that.

The Jim Thorpe resident has been riding the bus since the program began in 1979 and now finds it more valuable than ever since he uses the service to travel to Lehighton where he visits his wife at the Gnaden Huetten Convalescent and Nursing Center.

"Without it I wouldn't be able to get anywhere," said Jarinko, in explaining his feelings towards the program operated by the Carbon County Office on Aging.

Jarinko explained that he rides the bus almost every day to get to the nursing center or the Carbon Plaza Mall, west of Lehighton. When the transit system was not in operation, Jarinko said it sometimes took him two hours to get home from Lehighton because of difficulty in securing a ride.

"It gives the best service and you will not find a more courteous driver," said Jarinko, speaking about theprogram and Mrs. Bessie Bauchspies of Lehighton, who has driven for the program for about five years.

Jarinko says he cannot understand why more people do not use the county transportation system. He noted that a Nesquehoning woman who was informed of the program now leaves her car at home and instead takes the bus.

Jarinko was just one of the many people taking the Jim Thorpe to Palmerton run recently who found the program to their liking.

Mina Sheehan of Jim Thorpe also uses the bus to travel to Lehighton where she shops. "It's very convenient. I would be lost without it. I wish we had it on Saturdays," she said.

Maude Neeb, a resident of the Union Hill section of Lehighton, said she rides the bus two or three times a week and added that she "would be lost without the service."

Mrs. Neeb, a widow, said she uses the bus to travel to the mall to shop.

Mrs. Bauchspies begins her daily run in Palmerton at 8 a.m. and makes stops in Bowmanstown, Parryville, Union Hill, Weissport and in the Lehighton area before arriving in Jim Thorpe at 9 a.m. After picking up more passengers, she retraces her route and includes the Aquashicola and Little Gap areas. She again returns to Lehighton after making the necessary stops and arrives at the mall about noon.

Her busy afternoon schedule begins at 1 p.m. in Jim Thorpe and ends after 4 p.m. when she returns to the mall for the fifth time. Mrs. Bauchspies says she puts about 130 miles on her bus a day and notes that most of her riders are senior citizens. She said her busiest days are in December or when the weather is nice.

Albert M. Petrole, administrator of the county Office on Aging, said the agency currently offers two transportation systems for residents of the county.

The first is the fixed-route system such as the one Jarinko uses and the second is a demand-response system.

Petrole explained that the fixed-route system is open to the public and includes four routes including the Jim Thorpe to Palmerton run. Other runs are Jim Thorpe to the Panther Valley area, Jim Thorpe to Tresckow and a run inside Jim Thorpe.

Three routes are subcontracted to local busing firms, while the run inside Jim Thorpe is operated with a county bus and a county driver.

The fixed-route system is open to the general public and includes a free fare program for senior citizens. Persons 65 or older who show a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Senior Citizen Transit Identification Card are granted free bus fare from 9 a.m. to 3:29 p.m. each day.

Persons not qualifying for the free fare program must pay a flat 75 cent one-way fee on any of the three routes that do not stay in Jim Thorpe. The fee for the Jim Thorpe proper run is a flat 50 cents.

According to Petrole, the demand-response system is the equivalent of a taxi service. Vans are provided to riders and the system is currently not open to the general public.

Petrole explained that the program is only open to clients of the county agency if they are 60 or older and have a need for the service, such as having no car.

The program cannot be used to take a person to a hairdresser, but can be used for employment, medical or nutrition reasons, Petrole said.

The agency also subcontracts with the state Department of Welfare to provide a medical assistance service. The Office on Aging picks up the fare for senior citizens on the van, while the state agency pays for the medical assistance clients.

The county agency has provided the demand-response service since about 1975 and added the medical assistance program in Oct. 1983 under a Medical Assistance Block Grant.

The administrator of the county agency said older people account for a large number of riders on the fixed route system. "Senior citizens make up a large percentage of riders on the fixed route and county employees ride it," said Petrole.